tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post8656266764490012653..comments2023-04-12T08:14:37.935-04:00Comments on Colored Demos:: Some Questions About Elena KaganLuis Fuentes-Rohwerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09915435038828190903noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-55549622308502045612010-05-11T00:10:09.283-04:002010-05-11T00:10:09.283-04:00Here are some data that gives me pause about Kagan...<i>Here are some data that gives me pause about Kagan. When Elena Kagan was Dean of the Harvard Law School, she hired 29 tenured or tenure-track faculty members.</i><br /><br />Your post is being widely cited and quoted. Would you be so kind as to share here the data (the list of names) to which you refer?Tanstaaflhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10809764986911255031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-15227888511361506952010-05-10T02:47:33.561-04:002010-05-10T02:47:33.561-04:00TGGP said:
"How many Native American legal a...TGGP said:<br /><br />"How many Native American legal academics are there?"<br /><br />-------------------<br /><br />Roy Halbritter, James LaVelle, Sam Deloria, John Echohawk, Walter Echohawk, Stacy Leeds, Gail Bird, Christine Zuni-Cruz.... and that's just off the top of my head. <br /><br />Say it with me now: "miner's canary"Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18400976629041095826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-16944855951130111592010-05-03T12:19:37.258-04:002010-05-03T12:19:37.258-04:00A very insightful post not only for the issues rai...A very insightful post not only for the issues raised, but also for the thoughtful analysis. In particular, as you suggest, the move toward nominating and promoting judicial candidates with "thin" paper records should cause the American public to scrutinize whether that reflects core American values. <br /><br />We might want to think about--as you have astutely done here--what might be lost in that process when elected officials (and the public) from the left or right are driven to support candidates who come forward with limited or no record(s). It doesn't seem plausible or smart that candidates for the high court haven't thought about critical issues or have strategically been quiet hoping one day to be tapped on the shoulder for a senior government post. Not sure which betrays public expectations more.<br /><br />At any rate it is a road test on a very slippery course. Consider what this might mean for astute judges on very active benches, like the 5th, 9th, 4th, or 1st Circuits. In effect those whose civic ambitions might include the high court would be cautioned to eschew leadership lest they betray their opinions, intellectual acumen, or judicial philosophy. The same would be true of academics. Guinere and Johnsen come to mind.<br /><br />Finally, you suggest that, democrats should have the courage to do what Republicans have smartly embraced and demonstrated (not only in recent years, but prior), and that is to stand by their nominees--including those who previously expressed political views. Perhaps that is the wisest lesson for those in DC.Michelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00006842831654336537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-81021174137331094992010-04-28T22:15:13.379-04:002010-04-28T22:15:13.379-04:00Principal Quattrano, you slightly remind me of a p...Principal Quattrano, you slightly remind me of a pseudonymous blogger described as being someone "who specializes in discerning in every single thing that George W. Bush does some unbelievably complex triple-bankshot strategy that Bush couldn't even understand, much less conceive". I think the Miers-Gonzalez stuff indicates that Bush prioritizes cronyism over competence (it is my impression that Roberts & Alito were considered far more qualified by both liberals and conservatives).TGGPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017651009634767649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-79430848278719360222010-04-26T13:03:17.995-04:002010-04-26T13:03:17.995-04:00Obviously, when you nominate someone without a pap...Obviously, when you nominate someone without a paper trail, *you* don't know much about your nominee, either. See "Souter."Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02325205512110155291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-66278143349460256042010-04-25T00:17:11.465-04:002010-04-25T00:17:11.465-04:00"Please do not tell me that there were not en...<i>"Please do not tell me that there were not enough qualified women and people of color. That's a racist and sexist statement. It cannot be the case that there was not a single qualified black, Latino or Native-American legal academic that would qualify for tenure at Harvard Law School during Elena Kagan's tenure. To believe otherwise is to harbor troubling racist views."</i><br /><br />With all due respect, that is not an argument. Whether qualified blacks, Latinos or Native-Americans were turned down for positions at Harvard Law is not a matter of "belief," but one of fact. The way to prove the truth of the assertion is to identify those candidates, not to accuse anyone who might question the assertion of racism.cjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06037832907654311079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-26697713311045193002010-04-24T11:21:38.454-04:002010-04-24T11:21:38.454-04:00"When George W. Bush nominated Harriet Miers ...<i>"When George W. Bush nominated Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court he was forced to withdraw the nomination because of opposition from his right flank. Conservatives would not be mollified notwithstanding the winks and nods from the White House that Miers would be a reliable conservative vote on the Court."</i><br /><br />I disagree that this is how it went down. In my opinion Bush nominated someone so utterly unqualified that his true intended nominee would be accepted with hardly any debate, despite being a hard right wing judicial activist.Principal Quattranohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01433497899926818665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-38841167604499779802010-04-23T22:57:37.378-04:002010-04-23T22:57:37.378-04:00Obama also taught at the University of Chicago Law...Obama also taught at the University of Chicago Law School, one of the top in the country, having NO legal publications (an oddity since he was editor of the HRS Review) and almost zero work with law firms. Could that have been because he was one of the few blacks on that faculty?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-85938991143440436912010-04-23T21:07:33.779-04:002010-04-23T21:07:33.779-04:00How many Native American legal academics are there...How many Native American legal academics are there?TGGPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017651009634767649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-38622763645517651172010-04-23T19:30:54.105-04:002010-04-23T19:30:54.105-04:00...how can it be the case that a long-time academi...<i>...how can it be the case that a long-time academic, someone who was a tenured member of two of the nation's top law schools, does not have a paper record? ... Kagan started teaching at the University of Chicago in 1991 and received tenure there in 1995. She was also a tenured professor and former Dean at the Harvard Law School.</i><br /><br />On the aggregate, schools like Yale and Harvard consist of faculty of the very highest caliber. <br /><br />However, with respect to any particular hire, quality varies considerably. That's because a hiring decisions boils down to timing, a candidate's qualities, institutional priorities, and the idiosyncrasies of a particular hiring committee. Timing counts for a lot. Hence, plenty of second-rate people get hired, even at the best schools.<br /><br />An unremarkable candidate's elevation to the Dean of Harvard Law School or other top-tier school is even easier to explain. Precisely because the faculty Harvard Law School consists of the country's brightest legal minds, relatively few faculty members are going to be particularly eager to serve as dean. Brilliant legal minds are not likely to find today's administrative work -- endless meetings, the new trend of pandering to students as if they were "customers", and of course, fund raising -- particularly appealing. Therefore, a person aspiring to be a dean of Harvard Law School is quite likely to be a second-rate scholar, a social climber, or both.<br /><br />Of course, the "social currency" of a position such as dean has allowed academic institutions to function for centuries. If there was no prestige attached to a position like dean, schools would have trouble fulfilling the position. Universities might end up having to offer candidates more money to do the job.<br /><br />Whatever useful purpose this age-old convention happens to serve a university, a debased social currency of the academic world must not be allowed to have a bearing on who should fulfill one of the country's most powerful positions.Jotmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02485510513271661365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-17090591747635792432010-04-23T14:35:16.015-04:002010-04-23T14:35:16.015-04:00This paragraph I agree with completely:
By contra...This paragraph I agree with completely:<br /><br /><i>By contrast, liberals and progressives have failed to offer and defend an alternative vision. A reason for that failure is their refusal to take these opportunities to offer an alternative. Instead, we are likely to get a nominee with no paper record....</i><br /><br />Another thing I like: the writer alludes to the "absurdity" of the proposition that the administrative duties of a law school dean might reasonably constitute some kind of serious credential for serving as judge in the highest court in the land. I address this particularly silly premise head-on in a short blog post:<br /><br />http://jotman.blogspot.com/2010/04/does-dean-position-qualify-elena-kagan.htmlJotmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02485510513271661365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-53079939820731849592010-04-23T14:19:57.359-04:002010-04-23T14:19:57.359-04:00Obama's dominant attribute is that he "Be...Obama's dominant attribute is that he "Betrays his Base" everyh chance he gets. In facct, he despises his base. Obama is the most conservative Blue-Dog in all of Washington. He will appoint the most conservative person he can get away with, and with the secret understanding that, once appointed, that person will pivot hard to the right as soon as possible. That is my prediction.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17268675896302478922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-67528943794339796352010-04-23T10:15:25.798-04:002010-04-23T10:15:25.798-04:00Defending a liberal vision of the Constitution is ...Defending a liberal vision of the Constitution is somewhat in conflict with the other priority of the so-called 'establishment' Democrats, namely, the power of the future Justice to persuade Anthony Kennedy over to his/her side. <br /><br />If there is one thing I can tell from Kennedy's writings, it is the consistency of his views (however incoherent they may be philosophically) and he seldom appears to switch sides particularly on important issues. Note that in the Apprendi line of cases and many others, he is less interested in preserving precedent than in reiterating his own positions. So it seems to be a foolish idea to appoint a so-called 'moderate' keeping Kennedy as the main focus of the choice.<br /><br />If you accept that premise that Kennedy will only come over to the liberal side when he wants to, with liberals mostly in a minority, it makes far more sense to appoint a visionary who would rather write powerful but possibly lone dissents through which he/she can create a larger paradigmatic shift in judicial thinking amongst the public thereby laying the foundation for liberal dominance in the long term than trying to figure out how to muster five votes in the present or immediate future. But I suspect the present White House has neither that sort of vision nor the willingness to fight for such a choice and would rather compromise for a consensus-seeking 'moderate' who can be easily confirmed.cbcnn_Pilidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07404596183953851196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-46957915087209385422010-04-23T09:02:46.856-04:002010-04-23T09:02:46.856-04:00I think you mean Roberts's "umpire metaph...I think you mean Roberts's "umpire metaphor." Elena Kagan's nomination would be unsurprising but disappointing given the truly progressive, accomplished jurists available.JGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06471824525147857997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-3583978537017643032010-04-23T08:52:43.593-04:002010-04-23T08:52:43.593-04:00Great post, Guy.
Heidi KitrosserGreat post, Guy.<br /><br />Heidi KitrosserUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04438700184846655290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-42209358208663233272010-04-23T01:46:07.247-04:002010-04-23T01:46:07.247-04:00"Now one might ask, how can one get tenure at..."Now one might ask, how can one get tenure at not one but two of the nation's top law schools with what would appear to an outsider to be a thin publication record? I don't know the answer to that question."<br /><br />That seems like a question that's worth looking into.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-57161629684959960532010-04-23T01:38:14.231-04:002010-04-23T01:38:14.231-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Hank Gillettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17328364486555780403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-76234193928798932702010-04-23T01:25:24.933-04:002010-04-23T01:25:24.933-04:00Thanks, professor. I couldn't agree more.Thanks, professor. I couldn't agree more.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00617616926662358573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-81895840274754122312010-04-22T23:26:16.256-04:002010-04-22T23:26:16.256-04:00You wrote "empire" instead of "umpi...You wrote "empire" instead of "umpire"---John Roberts' (fatuous) metaphor is that judges are like "umpires."Ryan Kenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14519924639828874026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8949695397805914430.post-27358524784234229942010-04-22T18:33:49.080-04:002010-04-22T18:33:49.080-04:00I hope to see Lani Guinier's name advanced for...I hope to see Lani Guinier's name advanced for the court.Robert Magillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11768002944826836257noreply@blogger.com